A printed circuit board (“PCB”) often begins as a schematic diagram by which an electrical engineer describes an electronic circuit as a logical diagram of symbolic representations. The schematic may then be used to lay out various electronic components, and the connections (e.g., netlines, routes, traces) between those components may be routed. Ultimately, a PCB design is created and data for the PCB design can be electronically stored. That data can be used to generate artwork corresponding to a pattern of components and connections between those components. The artwork, in turn, can be used with photographic imaging techniques to manufacture the PCB.
Many users may be involved during the layout process. Traditionally, this has been accomplished via a design splitting mechanism whereby each user can check out a corresponding (assigned) piece of the design to make edits to the PCB layout. FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates a prior art system for designing a PCB. The system comprises a plurality of clients 102, 104, 106 and a server 100, where the server 100 comprises a database 108 to store a master PCB design 116 (hereinafter “master design”), and each of the clients 102, 104, 106 enables users connected thereto to request edits to the master design 116. As used herein, a master design refers to a PCB design which can be edited by the users. Under the illustrated prior art, each user opens a unique piece 110, 112, 114 of the master design 116 to work on. A user may open a corresponding piece 110, 112, 114 of the design 116 from the database 108 and make edits to the corresponding piece 110, 112, 114 of the design 116. However, the user cannot see what edits are being made to the master design 116 by other users, and how edits to the other areas of the master design 116 affect the user's corresponding area. For example, a user on client 102 edits and only sees piece 110 of the master design; a user on client 104 edits and only sees piece 112 of the master design; and a user on client 106 edits and only sees piece 114 of the master design. Upon completion, or at the user's request, the corresponding piece 110, 112, 114 may be checked back into the database 108. At a later time, any of the users can check out a corresponding piece 110, 112, 114 of the master design 116 to see how the compiled, totality of edits made by all users up to that point affect the user's corresponding piece.
Using the above-described approach, a user is limited to viewing only areas of the design that are opened by that user. Consequently, the user cannot see edits that are made to the rest of the board while the user's edits are being made. There remains a need for systems and methods whereby multiple users can simultaneously edit the same portions of a PCB design, but can also prevent conflicts between the users.